How to Conquer a Writer in 4 Easy Steps

Take a lover of words, a passionate wordsmith, and silence her voice. Do not let her speak her mind or share her heart’s treasures, be it aloud or on the page.

Dismantle her hope. Fill her head with dreams of grandeur and when she firmly believes she has a shot at being something, dash it all to the ground like a butterfly crashing into a window.

Discourage her efforts like madmen torturing prisoners of war. Sound the alarm for professions that appeal to her, then watch gleefully as she succumbs to the mournful kisses of rejection and depression when you only let her go but so far with the experience she’s gathered over the years.

Watch her scramble to reinvent herself like a coiled spring shooting forward only to fall in on itself again. And again, she rises, blissfully unaware of the stings of rejection, overqualification, anxiety, and depression for they have become her stepping stones. Observe in awe and silence as she bites herself, draining all the self-doubt from her body to find her voice—and herself—once again.